Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP Shares Sold by Dean Capital Management

Dean Capital Management reduced its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,405 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 24,925 shares during the quarter. Dean Capital Management owned 0.23% of Standard Motor Products worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 115,491 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,714,000 after acquiring an additional 31,609 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Standard Motor Products by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 28,230 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Standard Motor Products by 1,135.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 28,340 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 26,047 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc raised its position in Standard Motor Products by 240.9% in the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 35,909 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 25,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SMP. Wall Street Zen downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Standard Motor Products currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

Shares of SMP stock opened at $36.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $806.59 million, a P/E ratio of 19.68 and a beta of 0.75. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.38 and a 12 month high of $46.00.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 2.31%.The company had revenue of $385.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.91 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 71.35%.

Standard Motor Products Profile

Standard Motor Products, Inc, headquartered in Long Island City, New York, is a leading manufacturer and distributor of aftermarket and original equipment automotive parts. Since its founding in 1919, the company has focused on engineering, testing, and supplying ignition and temperature management products for passenger cars and light trucks. Its product lineup includes ignition coils, spark plug wires, sensors, switches, heating and air conditioning controls, and related electronic components.

The company operates through two primary segments: Engine Management and Temperature Control.